I’ve had a few of my readers contact me and ask me how I go about deciding whether a particular beat making software is good or not…
I’ve used a ton of different programs and apps over the years so I think I’ve gotten a good feel for all of the software that is available on the market. I’ve used fruity loops, garage band, logic, dubturbo, wobbleboss, and and ton of other great programs which have really taken my music and beat making to new heights over the years.
All of this experience has allowed me to narrow down a few of the key features that seem to make or break beat making software.
If you’re like me then you produce everything from hip hop to dubstep and techno. If you are more inclined to produce just 1 style of music then you might find that your choice or opinions on beat making software might be a little bit different. So this review is much more of a general all-round review of the beat maker software that I’ve used.
What Makes a Good Beat Maker
In my opinion there are 3 things that make a good beat maker. Some programs seem to really excel in this area and some definitely leave something to be desired. I will touch on each of these points briefly and hopefully you’ll feel that you’re been educated on the world of beat making software quality.
1. A Beat Maker should always be easy to use. It should never take weeks or months to learn and you should be able to simply fire it up and start making beats fast without needing to spend 10 minutes or an hour setting things up. This ensures that your creativity and imagination will always be ready to flow and you don’t need to interrupt your flow just because your software is a pain in the ass to use.
2. High quality software should, obviously, produce high quality sound. This means that it needs to be capable of producing studio grade sound just as if you were making beats in a real studio with hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment. There is really no excuse these days for music software to sound crappy. Our technology has come a long ways and you can now have the power of a real music studio on your home computer. If your software sounds crappy, ditch it and find something new.
3. Your beat making software should come jam packed with sample and sound kits by default. You shouldn’t have to fork out extra cash for additional sample packs for your beat making software. I mean its still cool to buy extra sample packs once you’ve been producing for a while but you shouldn’t have to worry about this until long after you’ve been using your beat making software. Software for making beats should include a huge library of sounds and samples to make your music & beats with. If it doesn’t, ditch it and find one that does.
Why It’s Not About The Tools & Programs You Use
Just to close out this blog post I want to say that you need to keep something very important in mind. No matter what software you choose for making beats you should always remember that it’s not the tools you use, but your creative imagination that is the most important thing.
Is it important to choose the right software?
Hell yes..
But it’s not everything. Don’t obsess and try to find the perfect beat maker software, it doesn’t exist. You should always try to make due with what you have an exploit your tool to the fullest by using your musical imagination and constantly striving to improve your musical skills. Your musical skills will translate well into any production tool you use. Simple ones, advanced ones, you can really make them sound to their fullest potential if you have the musical skills and creativity.
So always be improving musically, and always be expanding your mind creatively.
Sincerely,
Ty Martin.